


Both My Shadow & My Light

by closureee



Category: Kuroko no Basuke | Kuroko's Basketball
Genre: Fluff and Angst, Idiots in Love, M/M, Romance, SemiAU
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-04-30
Updated: 2016-05-08
Packaged: 2018-06-05 09:41:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,878
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6699823
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/closureee/pseuds/closureee
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After the Winter Cup, Shutoku basketball club goes on a two-month training camp near the beach. Takao remains his flirtatious self towards Midorima who is not having the best of days, but after Takao gets asked out by what Midorima would describe as “Takao’s dream girl”, the green-haired ace of Shutoku begins to see his shadow on a different light. *pun intended*</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Yes, hi there. This is my first fanfic in a while and honestly, I have to warn you all that I am bad at this. ^^'' But! I put a lot of effort into writing this story, and by effort I mean all my otp feels. So without further ado, I hope you guys like this. Enjoy~

The bus full of high school athletes kept an even pace as it went down the street in direction to the beach. Slowly, the sound of heavy traffic, both for automobiles and for people in the streets, started to fade out, being replaced with the sense of tranquility only the beach could provide. Eyes shut and arms crossed, Midorima kept going through the most memorable events of this year’s Winter Cup. Memories of all his games kept flashing through his mind, accompanied with the feeling of joy he had felt as his teammates and him grew closer. It was almost inevitable to think about the satisfaction of being close to his team without thinking about an overly annoying Takao. Midorima had to admit it, out of all of his teammates, point guard number ten was the one he felt the closest to. Asides from being a first year starter like him and a great match for Midorima’s shooting skills, Takao was also a very persistent player who would not leave the green-haired player alone. Midorima’s lip curved upwards as he compared Takao to one of Kise’s annoying fangirls, with the exception of Takao being ten times more annoying and ten times more interesting. He quickly furrowed his eyebrows at the simple thought, he did not mean that just now, at least not in a romantic way. 

 

“Shin-chan, are you awake?” Midorima’s thoughts were interrupted, opening his eyes just enough to the only person in this whole wide world who calls him by such name reach out to poke his cheek. 

 

Faster than a heartbeat Midorima swat the other’s hand away while closing his eyes, receiving a laugh from Takao.

 

“You were not sleeping were you?” Takao grinned mischievously, resting his face on one of his hands. 

 

“I was not. However, you did interrupt my train of thoughts. Didn’t I tell you not to touch my face?” Midorima opened one eye, a blank expression on his face. Takao shrugged.

 

“I had to make sure. Plus, I could have swear I saw your face turn pink just a while ago…” 

“Stop the nonsense, what do you want.” Midorima cut him off before he could finish his sentence. Even if he was blushing he would not admit it, and having Takao say it outloud just bothered him even more.

 

“Hm, someone is grumpy. Anyway, we are almost there.” Takao pointed out the window next to him, the houses they passed by were notoriously different from those near the city. “We should go play in the beach once we get all our stuff in the hotel room. The coach said we have an hour to kill since we got here sooner than expected.” 

 

“No, I’d rather stay in the room and rest.” Midorima was mentally exhausted, and he knew their conditioning was going to demand a lot from his body. Instead of fooling around he saw that free hour as an opportunity to clear his mind. 

 

“Shin-chan you haven’t moved from your seat or even said a word in the whole trip, you can’t be tired.”

“For your information, Takao, I woke up early today to go buy this week’s lucky items in advance.” Midorima pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose. “Oha Asa announced an average start of the week for Cancer, but also predicted an unknown change in pace as the week progresses. I am not about to take any chances.”

 

Takao looked as his friend and sighed. “Is that why there is a bamboo plant in the very back of the bus?” 

 

Midorima nodded. “We are going to the beach. I was not sure if I would be able to find that item near this area.” 

 

“You are a whole different thing Shin-chan. I still can’t believe the coach let’s you bring all this stuff to practices, let alone training camps.” Takao looked over his shoulder where some first years were taking pictures with the bamboo tree. He stood silent for a moment but then laughed.

 

“What now-” Midorima glared at the other. 

 

“Nothing is just… it must be because Shin-chan is our ace, but I also can’t imagine you being any other way.” Takao shrugged, a grin curling up his lips. “Paranoic and all, I like it just like that.”

 

Midorima’s eyes widen and just as his heart skipped a beat the bus made a sudden stop, causing commotion amongst the passengers. No one knew it at the time, but Midorima was perhaps the most affected, but his reason being a total different one from the rest. 

  
  


____________________________________________________________________________

 

“Are you sure? You could use some sun you know?” Takao teased. Midorima simply ignored him, trying to look for a spot where to place his bamboo plant. 

 

“No, for the fifth time today.” 

 

“Shin-chan you are no fun. We have a free hour and you decided to spend it in a hotel room.” Taka threw the remaining of his bags without caring where they landed. “Come on, if you would rather go explore the town’s market then I will sacrifice my beach time for you.” 

 

Midorima actually considered the offer but overturn it before Takao could keep going.

 

“We are going there tomorrow morning, there is no point on going twice.” 

 

Takao shrugged “Then have fun with mr. bamboo. If you change your mind I’ll be with the seniors” After throwing his towel over his shoulder and giving Midorima one of his mischievous grins, Takao left. 

 

The door closed and Midorima sighed deeply. Finally, he was able to free his mind from any unnecessary input. If he wanted to make the most of this training camp, he would have to commit his body and mind more than he usually did during games and practices. Soon he would be a second year, and as a senior the expectations of him as the ace of Shutoku would be higher than in the previous year. New members would also mean more starters looking up to him and relying on him to bring them to the championships. Of course, that much Midorima could do without having to struggle. He knew, however, that the true challenge would come as soon as the prelims began, with rivals as strong as Kagami and his former junior high teammates he could not afford to fall behind. Midorima laid on the spacious twin bed, forgetting about Takao’s luggage until the back of his head hit against the stuff. Midorima sat on the mattress while rubbing the back of his neck. Even when absent the fox-faced player was able to disrupt his state of mind. He glared at the bags full of clothes, all thrown carelessly on Takao’s side of the bed. Midorima couldn’t stand it. He had agreed, forcefully, to share a room with Takao after the coach had denied his request of having a room for himself. However, his one and only condition was for the point-guard to match Midorima’s level of tidiness. Not even an hour had passed since the team had settled at the hotel and Takao was already messing with Midorima’s space. Midorima was not going to touch Takao’s stuff, but he refused to let it stay that way. Changing to his swimming attire, Midorima was determined to make Takao clean this mess. After all, the other had already messed with him too many times in one day. Midorima was about to leave when he saw his lucky item from the corner of his eye, the porcelain frog notoriously placed on top the night table on Midorima’s side. 

 

____________________________________________________________________________

 

Cancer had placed last on today’s Oha Asa, another major reason that convinced Midorima he should remain inside the hotel room where safety was assured. On his way he encountered one black cat, two broken mirrors, and was a step away from walking underneath a ladder. That did not stop him, however, from going on a rather annoying search to find an even more annoying Takao. Midorima ended up taking longer than expected to get to the beach, mostly because he had walked around all those back luck encounters and got lost more than once. His level of patience was quickly being outnumbered with the increasing combination of anxiety and irritation, and right when he was about to give up he was able to perceive a smiling Takao a couple of feet away from him. Midorima focused on that irritating smile of his and approached him without paying much attention at what surrounded the other.

 

“Oi Taka---” Midorima’s call for the other died before he could obtain Takao’s attention, stopping abruptly to observe the scene that he almost had failed to notice. 

 

Next to Takao were two girls, a tall blonde who was mostly trying to get Miyaji’s attention, and a petite brunette who was speaking to Takao. Midorima was able to identify the blonde one as a foreigner do to her coloured eyes and western features, however his attention was mostly set on the short one next to his friend. She had nice and fair skin, with the exception of a few freckles on her cheeks that instead of ruining her complexion favored her a whole lot. Her hair was down, which only made her look more like a natural beauty wearing no makeup. Her eyes were mostly fixated on the ground as she spoke to Takao, and after a few seconds she actually gathered the courage to look up at him. At that moment time froze, and as Midorima observed a blushing Takao rub the back of his neck he remembered the rest of Oha Asa’s predictions for today.

 

_ Scorpio you are today’s first place! ! ! Your lucky item is an umbrella, but do not worry that today you will not experience any storms. On the contrary, if you carry your lucky item and go on with your day you might find out that an unexpected surprise is coming your way.  _


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, how can I say it... after seeing how many kudos I got in the first chapter I got very excited and this chapter came out longer than planned (and sooner as well.) I hope you guys enjoy~

Seating between Takao and the petit girl by the name of Haruka was a frowning Midorima holding a cracked porcelain frog. His glasses were foggy and his left hand kept holding his chin up as he tried to think of a way to fix his precious lucky item. 

 

“Today is really not your day ha Shin-chan” Takao threw a joke in an attempt to stop the awkward silence, but only received a death glare from his green-haired friend. 

 

Midorima mumbled something under his breath, still focused on trying to fix his terrible bad luck. Takao thought he heard some cuss words, which could mean no good. 

 

Midorima is the type who does not simply give fucks just because. If he cusses, it is probably because he is going through a stressing situation that he cannot solve at the moment. Knowing the prodigy, Takao knew it was better to let the other sort it out. 

 

“P-perhaps this could help…” Both teenagers looked up when a sweet voice interrupted their thoughts. They both had been so concentrated, one on his item and the other on the former, that they had totally ignored the girl’s attempts to hand them a red super glue tube. 

 

“Oh, thank you Haruka-chan. This for sure will help.” Takao smiled at the girl while taking the tube from her cupped hands. 

 

The moment their hands touched two things happened. One was Haruka’s ever glowing eyes and rosy cheeks increasingly turning bright red. The other was Midorima’s attention going from his poor porcelain frog to Takao. 

 

He did not even notice the moment he went from one to the other, but Midorima had never been so focused on Takao interacting with another person like he was at that moment. His expression was calm, as usual, with the exception of his eyes. At first glance, Midorima looked composed and borderline uninterested, but if someone took a closer look they would find that his eyes were squinting ever-so-slightly.

 

“I will take that. Thank you.” before the other two could continue with the conversation Midorima reached out his hand asking for the object. 

 

“Y-You are welcome!” Haruka said almost instantly. For a moment, she felt Midorima’s intense stare on her, which only made her ten times more nervous. 

 

Once again the silence had fallen upon the trio. Midorima did not mind, he was more worried about fixing the crack that ran across the frog’s abdomen. Meanwhile, Takao stared at Midorima, resisting the urge to tease him somehow. 

 

“K-Kazunari” the girl said while looking down at her hands. “Would you still like to accompany me to get some ice cream, maybe?” 

 

Takao’s posture straighten and as he opened his mouth to say something Midorima interrupted.

 

“I am sorry, but it is almost noon, and I am afraid Takao and I have to go get ready for practice.” Midorima explained as he handed her back the tube of superglue. 

 

“Darn it! I almost forgot…” Takao frowned and gave an apologetic smile to the girl. “I am sorry Haruka-chan but we will have to postpone that.”

 

“I-it’s ok, I understand.” she smiled softly, her eyes fixated on the red item. 

 

“I will see you around Haruka-chan.” Takao said in the nicest tone Midorima had ever heard from the point guard.

 

“Takao, let’s go.” Midorima called for the other. “Thank you once again Haruka-chan.” 

 

Midorima had to try really hard when he smiled at the cute girl. However, as soon as he turned around, not waiting to hear Haruka’s response, his face went back to a blank expression. 

 

____________________________________________________________________________

 

No one had expected it, but that day’s practice had been ten times worse than what they all had expected. As soon as everyone arrived at the local high school’s gymnasium, the coach had everyone do an extra set of jumping jacks, sit ups, suicides, and push ups. Their warm up was death, but just when the athletes thought their inferno was over they were told to go run a mile near the shore of the beach. A mile had never been a problem for these basketball players, but running on the heavy sand was something they were not used to. They only had the cooling coast breeze to console their poor bodies.

 

As usual, Midorima and Takao were a group of their own, with the seniors running a few feet in front of them and the rest of the freshmen right behind them. Midorima was having a hard time keeping up with Takao, which was not like him. It all had to do with Midorima being hyper aware of his surroundings all thanks to the extreme bad luck he had experienced earlier that day. The last thing he wanted was a bird stealing his glasses and flying away into the horizon. Takao knew the other was being extra careful and was not able to resist his laughter.    
  


“You seriously have to be kidding me. Don’t tell me you fear a shark will jump out of the sea just to ruin your already sucky day” Takao laughed uncontrollably while running next to Midorima.    
  
Midorima just glared at the other. “I cannot take any chances. If anything you are to blame for part of my bad luck. It is your fault that I dropped Mr. frog.” 

 

“Wow, how is that my fault. I was just minding my own business when that frog slipped out of your hands.” Takao filled his cheeks with air.

 

“It’s all because of your face.” Midorima regretted saying that as soon as he saw Takao’s eyes light up.

 

“Hm, why my face?” Takao looked at his friend from the corner of his eye, a small grin already forming on the corner of his lips. 

 

“Simple. Your face distracted me and made me drop the frog.” Midorima remained looking forward. 

 

“Shin-chan you don’t have to be so obvious,” Takao smiled. “I mean I always knew you were into me but try not to be so straightforward.” He winked playfully. 

 

“Get lost.” 

 

“Hey you two! Stop flirting with each other and keep running.” Miyaji yelled at them. 

 

“But senpai, he was the one who started it.” Takao blamed Midorima. 

 

“Both of you die.” 

 

“What was that Midorima?” Miyaji smiled at him with a sadistic smile, a dark aura forming around him.

 

Midorima opted to remain quiet after seeing his own death in Miyaji's eyes. His senpai was already a graduate but he had decided to come to the training camp after being accepted at his college’s basketball team. 

 

“Hey! Don’t think just because he is leaving to college you shouldn’t pay respect to my brother.” Yuya yelled from behind Takao and Midorima. “That especially goes for you Kazunari.” 

 

Takao’s eye twitched when Yuya threatened him, carelessly calling Takao by his first name.

 

The younger version of Kiyoshi was no better than his brother. Both had their tempers, and while one was a senpai who Midorima must respect, the other was simply a violent freshman who took shit from now one. 

 

Although no one escaped from Yuya’s sharp tongue, Midorima came the closest to be respected by the unapologetic blonde. Once Yuya had challenged the shooting guard to a 1v1, but after observing Midorima’s god-like skills, Yuya decided to give the other more credit and some of his respect. This did not apply to Takao, who happened to be the one Yuya targeted the most. 

 

“Shin-chan please help me” Takao pleaded

 

“I can’t help you Takao. It is two against one.” 

 

Takao sighed in defeat and kept running next to his light. 

  
  


___________________________________________________________________________

 

“I don’t understand why Kiyoshi and Yuya always pick on me. You were the one who told senpai to die.” Takao threw the towel around his neck. 

 

“Simple. It is because you are annoying.” Midorima dried his wet hair with a towel of his own. 

 

“Shin-chan you aren’t really helping” Takao pouted. 

 

“I have to admit it. Watching senpai get all flustered when that American girl hit on him was something I had never imagined. Who would have guessed his weakness are foreign girls.” Takao pointed out while opening one of the windows. 

 

Midorima put on his glasses. He remembered looking at that tall blonde who was talking to Miyaji. He had never expected his senior to be into that type of girl’s either. Takao, on the other hand, was a different story. The moment Midorima had seen Haruka-chan he knew exactly that she was what Takao would fall for. Even after having a small conversation with her, Midorima only confirmed that the cute, shy girl was even closer to Takao’s type than he had imagined. 

 

Midorima frowned in the midst of his thoughts. 

 

“Don’t do that or you will get wrinkly Shin-chan” 

 

Midorima did not notice the moment Takao walked across their room, just to poke the space between Midorima’s brows. 

 

He was so in shock, that Midorima had to blink twice before he was able to process a slightly preoccupied Takao looking up to him. He backed off. 

 

“Bubble Takao! How many times do I have to tell you!” Midorima looked away before the rush of blood to his face could betray him. 

 

“What can I say, you looked like you were trying to find the cure for world hunger somewhere in that head of yours,” Takao grinned, satisfied with Midorima’s reaction. “How could I resist myself.” 

 

Midorima could almost hear the wink at the end of that sentence, even though he was facing the wall. In an attempt to get rid of the blush, Midorima closed his eyes and breathed deeply. 

 

However, once he did so, all Midorima could see was those foxy eyes looking up at him. Many times before, Midorima had been captivated by those light-blue eyes, some of those times in accident others on purpose. Midorima hated to admit it, but Takao’s eyes were more than fascinating, and if he ever dared to look at them for more than a few seconds he would most likely get lost in them. 

 

Sometimes, Midorima found himself daydreaming about Takao’s beautiful eyes on the most random of times: in the middle of class, after practice, right after waking up. Midorima had tried to stop but gave up once he realized that the attempts only increased the rate at which he thought of the point guard. 

 

At the moment Midorima could not explain why he was behaving in such a strange way, so he had decided to simply put that issue in the back of his mind. 

 

“You are a hypocrite you know Takao,” Midorima said out of annoyance. “You talk of Miyaji’s girl encounter as if you had not been flirting with that girl named Haruka.” 

 

Takao’s laughter died, which made Midorima turn around, finding a blushing Takao rubbing the back of his neck. 

 

“I wouldn’t call it flirting, she just asked me if I knew how to get to a specific restaurant.” he shrugged. 

 

Midorima did not know why but watching Takao become shy at the mention of Haruka made him become even more annoyed. He looked exactly like he did when Midorima had dropped his porcelain frog, and that only angered him more for some reason. 

 

Before he could say something he would eventually regret, Midorima put on his shoes and grabbed his key for the room.

 

“Oi Shin-chan where a--”    
  
“I’m going to get some fresh air. If the coach asks for me tell him I will be back in an hour.”

 

And without saying anything else Midorima closed the door, leaving a frowning and confused Takao behind. 

 

____________________________________________________________________________

 

Infatuation, no impossible. 

 

After Midorima walked out of his conversation with Takao, he went heading straight to the beach, not because he planned for it but simply because his feet had dragged him there. His mind was somewhere deep in his thoughts as he tried to figure out what was wrong with him. Not only was he extremely mad at Takao, but he also had a mixture of feelings that completely made no sense. At first, Midorima wanted to yell at Takao for being so annoying, but at the same time, he wanted to hold him and look into those captivating sky blue eyes. Just to add to the madness, Midorima also found himself having a hard time thinking about the encounter with Haruka. Midorima never cared for women, even those who giggled as he walked down the hallway and wrote him love letters. Yet, he still found enough kindness in him to nicely reject those girls back in middle school and now at Shutoku. Haruka, however, was different. Her cuteness and simplicity irritated Midorima in a way he had never experienced. It made no sense, it was like hating a puppy because of its cuteness, and Midorima was not the type to hate adorable things. 

 

He thought of every possible solution. Maybe he was starting to become a sociopath like Akashi, or perhaps Takao’s way of being was getting to him. Every possibility, every alternative, and yet the only one that made some kind of sense at the end of the day was the last thing Midorima wanted to believe. 

 

I refuse. 

 

The more Midorima thought of it, the more frustrated he became. Questions emerged as he tried to answer others, all while the sun began to hide somewhere in the distance. 

 

To Midorima’s surprise, there was little to no people near the areas he walked by. It was then that he noticed that he had been walking for hours. With some luck, his coach would ask Takao where the ace had gone and just let it be. But again, luck was the last thing Midorima could rely on. In a way, he was lucky enough something did not happen to him on his walk to particularly anywhere, maybe, after all, he could get away with being out for the last couple of hours. Midorima made a half turn and then observed his surroundings. 

 

A family and their dog playing with the sand, a guy confessing to his friend, and a guy recollecting trash, that was about all the people that Midorima was able to see around him. None of them someone he knew. The worst part was that just like the people, Midorima could not tell exactly where he was. Perhaps he had sing victory way too soon. 

 

“When did my life become this complicated” Midorima thought out loud while looking up at the sky.

 

“There you are. Shin-chan…”

  
Midorima looked right in front, his eyes meeting those familiar blue eyes, and with that the answer to his questions. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I literally had to google a picture of Takao because I SWEAR HIS EYES WERE BLACK, but no I was wrong. In a way it's nice because I can reference both to the sky and the ocean water when mentioning his eyes, which happen to look the most beautiful in today's chapter. YEI FOR COINCIDENCES. Anyway, in this chapter I somewhat introduced the Miyaji brothers, which are both a pair of buttholes xD I promise I will introduce more characters in the next chapter *wink wink* Chapter 3 will most likely take me a few days to finish and polish, so I am hoping to update around Wednesday/Thursday. See you guys next week.


	3. Chapter 3

The next morning was surprisingly usual. Both athletes woke up early to eat breakfast together, with Takao dropping his daily joke on Midorima while the ace gave death glares at the other.They had a refreshing morning run with the rest of Shutoku along the shore and even ended up throwing each other in the water. Miyaji had been the first to go down, followed by Takao and eventually Midorima, who despite backing off from Takao ended up being dragged into the water with the others. Although the tension had been there before, Midorima still talked to Takao like they usually did, and Takao decided to not push it. 

The exercise had them back where they started, as the dysfunctional pair they always were. After taking a shower and getting ready, they head over to the small town’s market just like they had planned the previous day. 

Midorima wore an orange short-sleeve with a pair of brown pants while Takao wore a black tank top with blue shorts. Both of them were walking next to each other, with Midorima carrying a weaved basket and Takao reading a list of ingredients out of a notebook.

“Shin-chan let’s get some shrimp and vegetables, I will cook something special for dinner.” 

“I am not in the mood for any seafood…” Midorima pointed out right away.

Takao sighed. “So you are telling me we came to a market next to the coastline, to not buy any seafood?” 

“Yes, that is it. You know I am not very fond of seafood. ” Midorima pointed out.

“That’s because you have only eaten the seafood you cooked.” A smug smiled curled up Takao’s lips. 

Midorima stopped walking asking for the notebook that Takao held.

“Are you sure you can cook this Takao? This sounds complicated” Midorima questioned with a raised eyebrow. 

“I can’t believe it” Takao snatched the notebook back from Midorima. “Admit it, you love my food.” 

Midorima looked away. “I guess your food is better than average.” 

No matter what, accepting that Takao’s cooking skills were beyond exceptional, along his favorite, was not something that the shooting guard could simply say out loud. 

“Look Takao… strawberries.” Midorima said pointing to his right. 

“Shin-chan please. Strawberries are expensive here.” Takao whined as he looked at the price tag. 

Midorima ignored Takao’s complaints and walked towards the tiny fruit stand. Takao’s favorite fruit were strawberries, maybe he should get a box full of them and prepare a dessert for dinner. 

“I will pay for them, don’t worry.” Midorima pointed out as he started to pick the strawberries. 

Midorima was usually picky when it came to buying food in general. Considering that these strawberries were for Takao, he decided to take even more time to pick them. Only the juiciest and most plump ones would make it to the final sale, and Midorima was making sure to get every single one inspected. 

“You are taking too long Shin-chan, they are just strawberries you know.” Takao leaned forward to look at the strawberries closely. 

“K-Kazunari...kun” The sweet voice interrupted the ongoing conversation between Takao and Midorima, making them turn their heads in search of the person calling Takao’s name.

“Ah, Haruka-chan! How are you today?” Takao waved his hand up while approaching the considerably short girl. 

“I am very well myself, t-thank you.” Haruka said, her eyes looking down at the ground as her fingers brushed a couple of hair strands behind her ear. “How about you?”

“I am alright. Shin-chan and I are grocery shopping. Somehow he ended up buying strawberries instead of seafood.” Takao pointed at Midorima who was standing behind him.

Midorima had just finalized paying for the two pounds of strawberries and he was giving a dead glare from the corner of his eye at Takao. If only he knew the strawberries were for him… 

“Midorima-senpai! S-sorry I forgot to greet you.” Haruka bowed out of embarrassment as well as an attempt to hide her blushing face. 

Midorima made a faint sound of disapproval towards the girls poor attempt of a greeting, but instead of actually saying anything to her he decided to let it go. Instead of letting his feelings take over, like he did last night, he was trying to remain logical and not do or say something stupid.

“Do not worry Haruka-chan.” Midorima shook it off with a quick smile. 

Takao chuckled next to him. “I guess you are not used to being the shadow, ah Shin-chan.” The black-haired guy joked as he nudged Midorima. 

Midorima glared at Takao once more, his eyes sending the message “go die” to Takao. 

“The shadow? What do you mean by that?” Haruka said hesitantly, not knowing whether it was acceptable to ask about the pair’s insiders.

“Oh it’s nothing, just a basketball joke that goes around in the team.” Takao said while placing his hands in the back of his neck.

Midorima could not stand they way Takao let go of such information like if it was nothing. Sure, they being the light and shadow of Shutoku was not new, but he still hated that Haruka got to know that. Adding to that, the simple thought of Takao being so natural around the girl made him feel sick to his stomach. 

“Oh, I think I read about that somewhere in the internet. Yesterday after you told me about your basketball team I did some research. Both of you appear everywhere.” Haruka pointed out. 

“That is because Shin-chan and I are the dynamic duo. Right?” Takao nudged his friend in an attempt to add him to the conversation. 

“Yeah, I will be going off. Takao you should stay here with Haruka.” Midorima started walking away without looking at the other in the eye. 

“Shin-chan where…” Before Takao could stop the green-haired shooter, Midorima was gone with only a hand up as if he was waving goodbye. 

“Did I say something wrong?” Haruka asked in a hushed tone, asking herself rather than referring to Takao. 

Takao scratched the back of his head as he saw the green head disappear in the mass of people. 

____________________________________________________________________  
Midorima kept walking, his eyes fixated on the heads of people right in front of him. He had done it again, he did not even give a fight against his nonsense feelings. There was just something about Haruka and Takao together that made him cringe. He still could not put his finger on the exact reason why, but he was determined to make it stop one way or another. 

“Well, look what the sea waves brought to us.” 

“Oi, Midorimachii, what are you doing here.” 

Midorima snapped out of his thoughts, turning around to find the pair whose voices he already knew they belonged to. 

“Aomine and Kise, what a surprise.” Midorima said with a non-amused expression. “The same goes for you. Don’t tell me both Too and Kaijo are also having a training camp in this area.” 

Kise smiled and shook his head. “No, Aominechii and I are just here to vacation. Right Aominechii?”  
Aomine shrugged with his hands in his shorts pockets. “Yeah, Kise wouldn’t shut up so I brought him here.” A smug grin on his face.

“Aominechii! That’s so rude.” Kise said with a scowl on his face. 

“Please you two, get a room.” Midorima said out of annoyance. 

Ever since Seirin had defeated Too on the Winter Cup and Aomine had gone back to his normal self, Kise started to approach Aomine with more frequency. Each time the two of them would become closer than before, even more than back when they were in middle school. After Kise suffered his injury during the Winter Cup, Aomine made a promise that until he recovered he would come to his house and take care of him. At first he argued he only wanted to help Kise recover properly so they could have a one-on-one math. Kise’s recovery went better than expected, and the day of the match Aomine betted a date if he won. Ever since then you cannot see one without the other. 

“Hm, where is that point guard. What is his name, Takao?” Aomine pointed out. “Aren’t you always together?” 

Midorima sighed and closed his eyes. “I left him behind. He was annoying me.” 

Kise looked at Midorima, the slightest of concern showing on his eyes. “Well Takaochii is the clingy type, but I never see you walk away from him. Did he break your lucky item?” 

Midorima shook his head. “No, he is with another person at the time.” 

Both Aomine and Kise looked at each other. Something was definitely wrong, and they were starting to understand what. 

“What do you mean another person. Is he with the upperclassmen?” Kise asked tilting his head. 

“No, we came here by ourselves. He is with Haruka.” Midorima never talked in a disrespectful manner, yet it was almost like he spat those last words out.

“Who is that?” Aomine said raising an eyebrow. 

“They met yesterday. Who cares.” Midorima took his glasses off to clean them with the hem of his shirt. “He can go and do whatever he wants. He annoys me after all.” 

Aomine exchange a quick look with Kise, just before the blond started to walk in the direction Midorima had come from. 

“Sorry guys I think I left my wallet in one of the stands near by. I will be right back.” Kise winked at Aomine before he took off. 

“Kise is always forgetful.” Midorima noted. 

Instead of replying, Aomine observed Midorima in silence. This kept going for a couple of seconds, which to Midorima felt like minutes, until Midorima could not take it anymore. 

“Aomine Daiki, it is rude to stare so openly at someone.” Midorima said while squinting his eyes.

“Really? Well, you do it all the time you know. That guy Takao, it almost seems like he is one of your precious lucky items.” Aomine said as a matter of fact. 

Midorima stood silent. “I don’t see where you are going with this.” 

Aomine sighed loudly and started to walk in front of Midorima, hoping that the other would just follow him. 

“And I always thought you were the smart one Midorima. Use that smart head of yours.” 

“I still cannot see your point.” Midorima said from behind Aomine. 

“Heck you will understand. You are acting like a teenage girl who is jealous because she suddenly has competition. You are acting out of possessiveness, that is why seeing Takao with that girl annoys you so much.” 

Midorima stopped abruptly. He knew Aomine’s words made total sense, he had even thought of that before. 

“I could care less about someone as annoying and clingy as Takao.” Midorima crossed him arms in front of him. 

“Sure you do…” Aomine eyed the green-head. He knew that knocking some sense into that tsunedere’s head would not be easy. “How about we go get some tea?” 

Midorima was surprised by the sudden change of topic and simply nodded. 

“Don’t we have to wait for Kise?”

Aomine shook his head and grinned. “Believe me, it’s probably going to take him some time before he comes back.” 

______________________________________________________________________

Takao was still not sure of why Midorima had left without saying much. This was meant to be their time together, buying groceries in the cute market and go back to prepare dinner. The day before he thought that Midorima’s reason for doing so was the terrible luck he had encountered since they had arrived, including the damage inflicted to his lucky item. Today, however, he could not find an explanation to why Midorima was repeating the same behavior. Takao had been joking around as always, and he tried to not touch a nerve of Midorima’s. Perhaps the other was finally getting tired of Takao, and maybe he was starting to give up on their friendship. 

“How is your ice-cream Kazunari-kun.” Haruka asked from across the table. 

“Ah, it’s delicious. I had never tried this flavor before. What did you say it is called Haruka-chan?” 

Haruka let out a soft laugh. “It’s called lucky star. Is a combination of raspberries and vanilla.” 

“Ah, is that so.” Takao kept picking at the ice cream after that. He had been so immersed in his thoughts about Midorima that he completely did not recognize the taste of raspberries and vanilla in his ice cream. 

Takao loved almost every single fruit in the world, with the one exception of raspberries. The fruit left an aftertaste and a dry sensation in his mouth he simply could not stand. Strawberries, on the other hand, were his favorite. The bittersweet combination was just right for Takao, but only a few people knew that. 

“What flavor did you pick Haruka-chan?” Takao asked in an attempt to start a conversation. That way he could allow some time for the ice cream to melt away. 

“Chocolate-chips, it is my favorite. I was debating between getting that or oranges, but I prefer chocolate.” Haruka said with a bright smile on her lips. 

“Chocolate is a must. How funny though… ” Takao looked at the already melting ice cream. “Shin-chan’s favorite ice cream flavor is oranges.” 

“Oh, is it really?” Haruka tilted her head, the smile slowly fading.

A sudden knock on the window next to them made them turn their heads just to meet eyes with a smiling blonde. 

“Oi, is that Kise…?” Takao blinked in disbelief. 

“Takaochii!” Before Takao could finish his question Kise was already entering the ice cream shop. “I knew I recognize you from somewhere, I just thought it was strange to see you without Midorimachii.” 

“Ah, yeah. He was with me until a while ago. I guess he needed to go do something.” Takao rubbed the back of his neck. 

“I see.” Kise noticed the way Takao seemed just as concerned as he had been about Midorima walking away from him. It was then that he noticed the brunette sitting across from Takao. She had her eyes looking down at her ice cream.

“I am sorry, did I interrupt something?” He offered an apologetic smile as he spoke to Haruka. 

“N-no at all. Kazunari and I were just eating some ice cream.” The nervous girl stuttered. “Here, p-please have a seat.”

“Thank you.” Kise took a seat next to the girl. Looking at her up-close he was able to notice the delicacy of her features. “Kise Ryouta, nice to meet you…” 

“Haruka, Nakamura.” She said, finally looking at the stranger sitting next to him. “Nice to meet you too… wait, K-Kise?!”

Haruka suddenly covered her mouth with both hands and stared at Kise with wide eyes. “K-Kise Ryouta, the model?” 

Kise smiled, he was somewhat amused by the cute reaction from the other. “The one and only.”  
Takao placed his elbow against the table and held his face with one hand. 

“Kise is also a basketball player. He was part of a group called the Generation of Miracles. Both him and Shin-chan were in it.” 

“I-I … I’m going to go get more ice cream. I’ll be right back” Haruka almost tripped as she walked past Kise. In no time she had disappeared inside the bathroom. 

Haruka was barely able to control her nervousness. It was clear that she had not expected to see someone as popular as Kise while hanging out with Takao. Suddenly Takao was reminded of something he had been thinking about.

“By the way, Kise, why are you here? Is Kaijo also on their training camp?” 

Kise cleared his throat and shook his head. “Personal reasons. Aominechii and I came here to vacation.” 

Takao knew right away what he meant. A few days before coming to the camp he had seen Aomine go inside an adult’s toy shop. He always knew Aomine was a pervert, but he was unaware that Kise and him were actually together. 

A mischievous grin appeared on Takao’s lips. “Is that so? No wonder I saw Aomine buy some interesting supplies.” 

Kise instantly froze, his face turning red in no time. “Did he?! A-Aominechii!”

Takao laughed at how easy it was to tease the blonde. 

“I always knew you guys had a thing going on. Watching you compete against each other in that final match gave me a feeling.” 

Kise blinked and smiled, the blush on his face starting to go down “I guess so…” 

At that moment Kise’s phone started ringing. Reading the name of who had messaged him his eyes lit up and he stood up abruptly. 

“Hey Takaochii, I need you to come with me, Aomine and Midorima are waiting for us.” Kise grabbed Takao’s arm and started to walk out of the ice cream shop. “I hope you don’t mind leaving your ice cream behind.” 

Takao looked back at the watery form of what was once his ice cream and shook his head. 

“Not at all.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone. First, I want to apologize for the late update. I know I promise it will be earlier in the week but I had a bunch of essays and homework to turn in. There isn't much going on in this chapter, especially Aomine being a pervert which is at least nothing new xD I would say the only actual new thing is Haruka and Takao eating ice cream. By the way, I assumed Takao's favorite fruit would be strawberries because of how it relates to his attraction towards Midorima. You know, Midorima is a tsundere and I picture tsudenres being tiny bittersweet strabwerries full of pride and subtle love. Anyway, I hope you guys like this chapter. Also, thank you for all the love and support. I never imagined my first attempt at getting back at writing fanfics would receive so much love. TTwTT You are all awesome peas.

**Author's Note:**

> You guys I am so into MidoTaka you have no idea. I like how much of a tsundere Midorima is, and how mad Takao can make Midorima. They are such bbs. Hope you liked it! Please leave any comments and or complaints. I will see you guys next week, hopefully I can update by Tuesday/Wednesday. *throws love at you all*


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